1. Processes that produced the Sichuan earthquake
May
Magnitude 8
2.28pm-3.21pm
Epicentre 80km from Chengdu

2. Processes within the earth
The earth is made of several layers.
The inner core is the centre. It is solid and very hot.
The outer core is liquid and also very hot.
The heat from the core cause rock in the mantle to melt and form magma. The heat also cause convection currents.
The crust which consists of large plates.

3. Tectonic plates are large and irregular
Tectonic plates are large and irregular. The move on top of the mantle in different ways.
Most earthquakes occur along or near the boundaries between the plates.

4. China is in close proximity to different plate boundaries
China is in close proximity to different plate boundaries. It experiences frequent earthquakes of different sizes.

5. Movement at plate boundaries
The Indian Plate and Eurasian plate are colliding.
The large blue arrows show the Indian plate is moving northwards.
The white star indicates the location of the Sichuan earthquake.
Red dots indicate the occurrence of larger magnitude earthquakes.
Yellow dots indicate the occurrence of lesser magnitude earthquakes

6. Processes on the surface
The Eastern Tibetan mountains and the Sichuan basin are being pressed together.
The mountain experiences uplift and the Sichuan basin experiences subsistence.

7. Processes on the surface
The blue rectangle shows the length of the rupture on the surface along the Longmen shan fault
The rupture started near Chengdu.
The width of the rectangle show the depth of the rupture.
The colours show the amount of vertical slip